Slow-Cooker Texas Chili (With beans!)

Ever since we were given a slow-cooker for a wedding present, I've been using it to make just about everything (including gingered pulled pork today on my day off!).  Can you believe that in the almost seven years since Nick and I have been together, I never knew he liked chili and stews?  He's always told me "I don't like soup", so to me that meant no chili or stews.  I recently found out I was wrong.  Thank goodness.

I'm pretty sure traditional texas chili contains zero veggies (except for chilis, which really shouldn't count).  But Nick and I like veggies in our chili, so I modified this Texas Chili recipe a bit.  Don't hate me if you're from Texas, I just....like my beans.

Instagram photo, taken during the first 5-minutes of the 7-hour process

After seven hours of labor (not my labor, the slow-cooker's labor)

 

 

Slow-Cooker Texas Chili

Modified from a recipe on FoodNetwork.com

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 4.5-ounce cans chopped green chiles, drained
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 3/4 cup chili powder
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes with chiles
• 1 to 2 tablespoons green hot sauce
• 2 14-ounce cans kidney beans, drained
• Fresh cilantro and plain Greek yogurt, for topping
• Tortilla chips, for serving (optional)

NOTE:  If you are following a low FODMAPs diet this is probably not the best recipe. You could omit the onion and garlic and use a garlic or tuscan-flavored olive oil to replace the vegetable oil. Or you could cut the onion and garlic into large chunks so they are easy to remove when you eat the chili (this way you'd still get the flavors infused, but this is not a good idea if you are really sensitive to GOS, as they are water-soluble).  Also, omit the beans (or take a beano supplement). 

Directions

1.  Toss the beef with 1 tablespoon each brown sugar and salt in a large bowl. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the beef in batches until browned on all sides, 4 to 5 minutes (do not crowd the pan). Transfer to a 5-to-6-quart slow cooker.

2.  Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion to the skillet and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, chiles, cumin and chili powder and cook 3 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups water and the tomatoes and simmer, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker, cover and cook on low, 7 hours.

3.  Add the hot sauce to the chili. Serve with scallions, cilantro and/or sour cream for topping, and chips, if desired.

Instagram

Nick took one bite and said, "You made this?!".
Should I be offended by this??

I didn't add Greek yogurt to mine, but I did add cilantro.  It definitely added a unique touch.

Estimated Nutrition Facts for 1/8th of the chili

Nutrition Highlights:  Good source of vitamin A and Calcium, excellent source of fiber, protein, iron and vitamin C.  Not bad for chili!

QUESTION:  I like my chili with cornbread.  What about you?

Thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd

NOTE: I love comments!  But, be sure to come back to read any replies to questions or comments, as they do not go directly to your e-mail.

Easy Chili and Valentine's Day Surf and Turf

I hope everyone had a great weekend! It's snowing like crazy here in Columbus, and it's literally pitch white (instead of pitch black..haha). I've got a lot to share today, so let's get started.

2010 Cookbook, Quick, Cheap, and Healthy Recipe #12

Thick and Meaty Chili

Ingredients
(Makes 2 large servings, or 3 small)

6 ounces cooked ground turkey
1/2 can tomato, with all the juice
1/4 can black beans
2 T tomato paste
1/4 cup red pepper
1 t. basil
1 t onion powder
1 t cumin
1 t garlic
1/2 t cayenne

Possible Modifications
- Use any protein you wish
- Use any kind of bean you wish
- Add any other vegetables you wish
- Add more or less of any of the spices!

Instructions
This is EASY AS PIE. Throw everything into a large pan, turn on the heat, and cook until desired temperature is reached. YEAH!

I served mine over some spinach, and added some grated parmesan, and Red Hot.

Nutrition Facts
(for one large serving)

My Rating: 9 out of 10
This recipe was SO EASY! And I just love chili, no matter what, so it deserved a 9 more it's easy prep and delicious taste.

Nick's Rating: 9 out of 10
He added extra Red Hot to his, and it was VERY SPICY

Surf and Turf From My Valentine

I thought of a new job for Nick on Friday (when we celebrated V-day) and that is to be a food safety inspector! See the plate below? I put the lobster on the same plate as the fillets, so I could get a picture. WELL the food safety "Natzi" yelled at me and said you can't put seafood and raw meat together because that could cause "cross contamination". But they haven't been cooked yet!, I said. Apparently it doesn't matter. Ooops.

Despite a couple "wrong moves" I made in the kitchen, and despite having the tiniest kitchen on this planet, we came together and made an AMAZING meal. We used Alton Brown's recipe for steak fillets, and set off the smoke alarm.....at least we know it works!

We used a simple recipe for the lobster. Basically we steamed the lobster tails in salty water for 10 minutes. EASY! The hard part was getting to the meat. My goodness, we paid a ton of money for about 4 ounces of lobster. It was worth it though.

Our final dinner consisted of freshly baked sweet potato, sauteed spinach, lobster tail with garlic and basil butter, and medium rare fillets. For drinks we had our favorite pale ale, Sierra Nevada. Not pictured is the blue cheese we added to our steaks

Freshly dipped lobster tail. Devoured in ten seconds.

Dessert: Gluten free brownies (which actually have more sugar than the regular kind..why were the in the "healthy" section again???) and homemade chocolate ice cream with peanut butter chips.

Coming Up

Tomorrow I'll be answering your questions from Sunday's supplement post! Also if you're interested in reading about some 2010 Fitness trends, I wrote a new blog post for our workplace wellness website; 2010 Fitness Trends.

Thanks for reading, and have a great night/day!